GDS (Global Deterioration Scale) is the rating scale used to determine whether a person has cognitive impairments related to dementia. A cognitive impairment may be any deterioration in skills like thinking, knowing, learning and using judgment. The scale was first published in 1982 in the American Journal of Psychiatry by Dr. Barry Reisberg. Dr. Reisberg says the GDS stages are 1-4, pre-dementia stages, and 5-7 this is when a person can no longer survive without assistance. With more and more older adults being diagnosed with dementia, it often falls on loved ones to learn the stage there loved one is at, and how they can best care for them.
Because the stages often overlap, meaning symptoms from one stage start to seep into a previous stage it can be hard to find where a loved one may fall in the disease process. So to combat this problem, the GDS scale is another alternative to the staging process we already know has limitations.
The staging levels are:
Level 1- No cognitive decline
Level 2- Very mild cognitive decline
Level 3- Mild cognitive decline (forgetfulness)
Level 4- Moderate cognitive decline (decreased knowledge of current and recent events)
Level 5- Moderately severe decline (early dementia- patient can no longer survive without help)
Level 6- Severe cognitive decline (may forget their spouses name, delusional behavior, obsessive symptoms, etc.)
Level 7- Very severe decline (all verbal abilities are lost, requires assistance with everyday needs, loss of basic skills including the ability to walk)
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This graph shows the impairment of activities in patients with deteriorating mental faculties.
Tags: aging ailments, dementia, impaired activity
